Graham running hard, but lagging so far behind

[Nambe]

The San Angelo Standard-Times

- A recent Des Moines Register poll of likely voters in the Jan. 19 Democratic caucus had Graham atop only 1 percent of the responses, tying for last place among the nine-candidate field with acknowledged long shots Al Sharpton, a New York civil rights activist, and Carol Moseley Braun, a former U.S. senator from Illinois. -

Susan McManus, a political-science professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, says Graham must change if he hopes to succeed on a national scale.

"To win in a crowded field, you have to move to where the voters are," she said. "And many voters in Democratic primary elections are much more liberal."

Paula Hawkins, the former Republican senator whom Graham defeated in 1986 after eight years as governor, said her former rival's new persona is the talk of political circles, both Democratic and Republican.

"They all say, 'What's happened to Bob?' I don't understand," Hawkins said. "Since he's got on the national scene, he's changed." -

Banish bush From Texas Too

[tlb]

1. Nothing surprising.

I've never seen Graham's campaign as a run for the presidency. I always saw him as running for VP.

I believe it has worked. I expect he will fill that slot on the ticket.

[Gman]

2. I like Graham more than any of the others because

as chair of the Select Intelligence Committee he knows EXACTLY what the classified reports say and EXACTLY WHY Bush should be impeached for lying about Iraq.

Unfortunately, he's not liberal enough to do well in the primaries.